


Conversations With Loki

by Northern_Lady



Series: Infinity Dialogues [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 07:47:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14015616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Loki gets to know Nebula further and has some talks with Thor and the Avengers.





	Conversations With Loki

A knock sounded at the door. Loki awoke in his room on the ship and found Nebula was still asleep and curled up contentedly in his arms. She had been sleeping in his room for only a week. The first night she had only slept there. Well, it had been more like she had wept in his arms for several hours until she had cried herself to sleep. He hadn’t minded. He was quite sure that she had been through years of trauma and had never been given the chance to actually face or deal with any of it. The next morning she had tried to apologize for weeping like a child the way she had. He had not accepted her apology. He had told her she was free to weep anytime she wanted to and there was no need to be ashamed of it. That evening she had returned to him and instead of weeping she had kissed him. She had not returned to her own room since then. He hadn’t wanted her to go back there anyway. The knocking continued at his door. Loki dragged himself out of bed and went to answer it. 

“Gamora?” Loki was not expecting her at all. 

“My sister is here, is she not?” The woman asked. 

“She is asleep,” Loki told her. “Did she tell you she would be here?” 

“She did. I came to borrow a pair of her boots. There is no need to wake her if you know where to find them.” 

Loki glanced over at the chair where Nebula had left her clothes. There were two pairs of boots sitting underneath. “Brown boots or black?” he asked Gamora. 

“The black boots are fine,” Gamora told him. 

Loki retrieved the boots and passed them to Gamora in the doorway. She hesitated to leave and instead tilted her head just enough to see around Loki and glance at her sleeping sister on the bed. “I have never known her to sleep through a conversation in the same room like this. She must trust you a great deal.” 

“I will take that as a compliment,” Loki replied, unsure that Gamora had intended it as one. 

Gamora stopped looking at her sister with concern and met his eyes. “I do hope her trust is not misplaced.” 

“It isn’t,” Loki told her honestly. “I will do nothing to hurt your sister.” 

Gamora nodded. “Thank you,” she held up the boots indicating her thanks for those, not for his words. “Tell her I will return her boots tomorrow.” 

Loki watched Gamora go, unsure what to make of her. He closed his door and returned to the bed. Nebula, still asleep, almost immediately rolled closer to him and he willingly accommodated, happy to have her back in his arms. 

***************************************

“That was the most boring council meeting I have ever attended,” Thor said to Loki as the last of the council members left the conference room on the ship. “How did you stand it when you were on Asgard as Odin?” 

“Well, I was having enough fun with my little charade that most things had an amusement all their own,” Loki told him. 

“I could use some amusement about now. It’s nearly time for dinner. Stay Loki and we will find some ale and I will tell you tales of when the Avengers and I battled Ultron. You have yet to hear that tale,” Thor offered. 

“As much as I would like to brother, I have other plans,” Loki said. His plans mostly involved a quiet dinner with Nebula after which he would take her to bed and see to it that the both of them forgot all of their troubles for the greater part of an hour, maybe two.

“What other plans? Where is it that you run off to every night for more than a week?” Thor asked, suspicious. 

Loki hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Thor to know, he simply wasn’t sure how his brother would react to knowledge of a relationship. Would he make jokes about it or take it far more seriously than it truly was? “I go to see Nebula,” Loki finally said. 

Thor raised an eyebrow then a smile broke out on his face. “If that is where you have been, why did you not say so before?” 

“I didn’t know the appropriate time to tell you.” 

“Does her sister know or should I say nothing to Gamora?” Thor asked. 

“She knows, no one else does. I would appreciate it if you would not make a big deal out of this. It’s not as if we are getting betrothed any time soon.” 

“Do they even have betrothals on the world she comes from? They don’t have them on midgard anymore. It seems that there many couples just share a dwelling. If that is what the two of you are doing you will hear no complaints from me. I have seen for myself that you are happier this past week. I care more for that than for tradition.” 

“Thank you,” Loki said, finding he was touched by his brother’s words. 

“Go then, go to her,” Thor said happily. “I will drink ale with Sif.”

***************************************

The journey to reach midgard would take nearly four months. In that time Loki grew used to the presence of Nebula in his bed and at his side. Not everyone was aware that the two of them were a couple but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that neither of them were alone anymore. 

It was early one morning as Loki was getting dressed and Nebula was in the bathroom having a shower. The water stopped and Loki heard her gasp with surprise of some sort. 

“Is everything alright?” He called out. Nebula gave no reply. Loki got up and knocked on the bathroom door. “I’m coming in.” he said. He entered the room and found Nebula naked and gazing at the mirror with an expression on her face that he could not interpret. Her hand rested on her lower belly. “What’s wrong?” 

“My father told us that his daughters could not have children. That he had surgically altered us making it impossible. After I got the nanites implanted I started having a monthly cycle again. It never occured to me that maybe the nanites repaired what he had altered...except...I should be having a cycle now...I’ve missed maybe two or three cycles…” she removed her hand from her belly. “And I’ve gotten fat.” 

Loki could not deny that her belly was indeed swollen like a newly pregnant woman’s would be. The truth seemed obvious. He had a moment of panic where he did not know what to say. He pushed the panic aside and went to her. He reached out and lifted her chin so she would look at him. “Does this worry you because you don’t want a child or you because you think I don’t?” 

“Do you?” she asked, hardly able to hide the anxiety from her tone. 

“I didn’t know it until now, but yes, I do.” He told her truthfully. “Do you?” 

“I know nothing how to be a mother. I can’t do this alone.” 

“You won’t have to,” Loki said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She stepped closer and hugged him and he held her for a long while. “Don’t tell anyone just yet,” Nebula said. “I want some time to get used to this.” 

“I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.” 

*********************************************************************

 

When they finally reached earth, several Avengers came aboard the ship to talk about what was to be done about Thanos and what was to be done with Loki. Once the threat of Thanos was made clear, the Avengers were more concerned about him than about Loki. 

“We’ll use what he wants against him,” Tony said. “Loki will have to offer him the tesseract. Not the real tesseract of course, but something similar enough that it can be used as a trap.” 

“Fine,” Loki agreed. He was willing enough to play that role. “I will do whatever I must.” 

“The real stones will be in Wakanda. At least that’s what you’ll tell him.” Tony said. “They have a shield over their whole country. If we fail to take down Thanos with the tesseract diversion, the Wakanda shield will buy us some time to gather forces and fight him.” 

“Where will the stones actually be?” Loki asked. 

Tony gave him a irritated look. “There’s no way in hell I’m telling you that. Thanos would just torture it out of you. He’ll probably torture you anyway, which is why you get to be the one to bait him and not one of us.” 

“Let me do it,” Nebula spoke up for the first time since the introductions had been made. “Let me bring Thanos the tesseract. I can tell my father that it was why I ran away, to find it for him, to regain his favor. He’ll believe it.” 

“Her way makes a lot of sense,” Steve Rogers spoke up. “If Thanos knows Loki at all he’ll expect betrayal. If his own daughter brings him the tesseract though…” 

“No,” Loki spoke up firmly. “I’ll do it.” 

Stark looked immediately suspicious of Loki’s words. “Why? What are you really planning to tell Thanos?” 

“Only to kill you first,” Loki said, tired of this human and his accusations. 

“I was wrong. I don’t think he should go,” Tony continued, “Maybe sending Nebula is the better option as long as she knows the risks.” 

“I am well aware of what Thanos is capable of,” Nebula said. 

Loki turned to her. “You’re not going. I won’t allow it.” 

“You’re not the one making decisions here,” Tony said. “The Avengers are calling the shots here. That’s our job. Technically your job is supposed to just be prisoner at this point. You should be grateful that you aren’t in a cell. I suggest you keep your mouth shut before we change our minds on the status of your freedom.” 

“Tony…” Thor began warily. 

“I don’t care if he is your brother or if he did do some helpful shit back on Asgard,” Tony went on. “I still don’t trust him. If Nebula is volunteering to go on this mission, I don’t see why she shouldn’t go.” 

Loki was shaking with rage. He turned to Nebula a second time. “Tell them why.” 

She gazed back at him in anger. “You promised you wouldn’t tell.” 

“I haven’t and I won’t without your permission. Tell them,” Loki said more kindly. “Please?” 

“It shouldn’t make any difference. I am still the same warrior I was before,” Nebula argued. 

“It makes every difference!” Loki was getting emotional. The Avengers were confused about what they were seeing. “I will not have you go and be captured and possibly killed or tortured by him and then lose our-” 

“Shut up Loki!” Nebula cut him off. She was starting to cry tears of anger. “Shut up.” She whispered. 

“Alright, what the hell is going on here?” Tony said, as he watched the scene before him. 

“Please tell them,” Loki pled with her again. 

“Fine.” Nebula closed her eyes and took a breath. “I am pregnant…”

“With Loki’s child?” Tony asked, it all starting to make sense. 

“Yes,” Loki breathed a sigh of relief. “Which is why she can not go and face Thanos. It need not be me either if you don’t trust me. I don’t care who you send as long as it is anyone but her.” 

“How is that even possible?” Gamora said with confusion at what she had just heard. “Thanos sterilized all his daughters.” 

“My nanites repaired me,” Nebula said. “I didn’t want to tell you. It didn’t seem fair. I kept it secret as long as I could.” 

Gamora didn’t get the chance to reply. 

“Well that still doesn’t explain who is going to offer the tesseract to Thanos,” Tony said. “Whoever it is, he’ll need to believe it’s a genuine offer.” 

“I’ll do it,” Loki said. He turned to Thor. “If I don’t survive you’ll look out for them?” 

“Of course I will brother,” Thor said. 

Loki nodded his thanks and then turned to Tony Stark. “If I do survive and I find out you sent her to do anything that put her at risk, I will find you.” 

Tony nodded. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” 

Nebula moved closer to him and took his hand while the Avengers continued their plans. He didn’t know what the future held or if he would survive or not. It at least brought him comfort to know that if he had to die, he was spending his last days with the people he loved.


End file.
